Star Alliances delays Air India membership application

The member airlines of the Star Alliance network and Air India have jointly concluded that the integration of Air India into the global airline alliance will be suspended.

This is due to the fact that Air India has not met the minimum joining conditions that were contractually agreed in December 2007.

Following a recent review of the status of Air India’s application at a meeting held between the Indian ministry for civil aviation, Star Alliance chief executive Jaan Albrecht and the Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav, the decision to suspend has received subsequent confirmation by the Star Alliance chief executive board.

Albrecht said: “With the collective decision to put the integration efforts on hold today we aim to contribute to Air India’s flexibility to concentrate on its ongoing strategic reorientation. In this process our member carriers will continue to provide assistance to Air India wherever required.”

Existing bilateral relationships with Star Alliance member airlines are not affected by this decision, which also leaves room to discuss a potential Alliance membership at a future stage, if deemed appropriate by both parties.

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